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Blog Tour, Interview, Excerpt and Giveaway! Whispers of Home by April Kelley

Whispers of Home

by

April Kelley

Publisher: eXtasy Books

Cover Artist: Carmen Waters

Categories: Contemporary, Erotica, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance

Blurb:

All Jaron McAllister wanted to do was get out of the small town where he grew up. After being bullied all his life for being gay, that’s exactly what he does. He loses all contact with everyone in the town of Pickleville, including his emotionally distant mother and the only true friend he ever had.

When his best friend and mother of the child they share, get murdered he knows he must ask for help in the one place he thought he would never go back to. Coming back home isn’t easy and finding himself attracted to the town man-slut spells disaster. Travis Heath isn’t at all what his reputation suggests though.

Excerpt:

Jaron looked through the window of the diner from across the street. His mother’s hands gripped a mug, probably full of coffee. Jaron thought he was meeting Brian but apparently Brian had other plans. Brian always did think he knew best, the bastard. Jaron was fully aware his oldest friend had set this up, probably getting in touch with Gloria McAllister right after Jaron had called the first time, telling her when Jaron would be here. Brian had never understood that the relationship Jaron and Gloria had wasn’t like the relationship Brian had with his own father.

Looking at his mom through the glass was like watching a movie of her. He had never felt the connection with his mom that he thought he should, even as a small child. Maybe that had been his fault. That he wasn’t quite what she wanted in a son and therefore kept just enough distance to make it seem like miles. Which was why he was confused she had come instead of Brian.

When he was eighteen years old he had thought he left because of a burning desire to fit in somewhere, because he certainly hadn’t fit in very well in Pickleville. He needed that connection to another human being, that knowing he was so important to another human being they just couldn’t live without him. Ironically, it was a five year old boy he felt unconditionally connected too. Now that he knew the unconditional love a parent felt for their child, he wondered at his mother’s parental instincts.

He stood on the sidewalk in front of what used to be a place called the Hobbyist’s Dream but was now an Asian market. He noticed the place was empty when he had arrived but his back was turned now, his complete attention on the woman in the window. He thought the Asian place probably wouldn’t have lasted long back in the day. Who knows now? The diner was the only one in town, or was until they put in a McDonald’s by the highway. Jaron hadn’t realized that things in this town could change until the bus passed by the fast food restaurant. Somehow he expected everything to be the same, as if time would stand still just because he didn’t feel any different now that he was here.

Standing here, he felt that maybe he left to put the physical miles between himself and the only parent he had ever known. He had never fit in with her either.

He felt a tug on his hand and looked down at sweet blue eyes. This small boy was as dependent on the next few minutes and the woman in the window as he was. “I’m thirsty,” Bobby said, around the thumb in his mouth.

“Me too. Let’s go.” Jaron stepped off the curb and onto the street, gripping onto Bobby’s hand just a little tighter, pausing for a car, and then continuing until he came within inches of his mother, the glass the only barrier now. She looked directly at him, showing more emotion in those few seconds than he had ever seen from her during his entire childhood. He looked away and walked through the door of the restaurant.

Interview:

Today we ask April five very random questions.

Two Men: Slow and gentle or up against the wall?
April: I would like to think of myself as an up against the wall type of person, but in reality I’m more of a slow and gentle character.

TM: How did you come up with the idea for this story?
AK: Long story, I’ll try to make it brief though. I had a dream about two teenagers on a date. The boy walked the girl home after that date and the started for home. Some older boys picked him up, forcing him in their car and murdered him just outside of their little town. The girl was haunted by the boy after that. I guess I wanted something different for that poor boy. So I wrote Jaron’s character. He got out of the town before he could get killed.

At roughly the same time I had this dream my good friend got dumped by this cowboy type guy. Now, I’m from Michigan and no one here dresses like a cowboy unless they mean it. Just the way he dressed screamed player so really my friends should have known he was going to get dumped. I wrote Travis’ character, intending to kill him off or something, but then I kinda liked him a lot. Guess I fell for a player too, huh.

TM: What is a typical writing day like for you?
AK: I usually write in the mornings and afternoon. I’ll take a break when my kids get home from school and then get right back to it. I’ll read in between projects, but not usually while I’m writing a story.

TM: What is the least satisfying thing about being a writer?
AK: The least satisfying thing about being a writer has to be getting a bad review that isn’t constructive even a little bit.

TM: What makes you want to write?
AK: The characters. I love writing about people and figuring out what motivates them to do the things they do.

TM: Thanks for joining us today, April. We hope the new release goes well.
AK: Thanks for having me 🙂

Giveaway:

Sales Links:

Author Bio:

Born and raised in Southwest Michigan, April lives with her husband and two kids. She has been an avid reader for several years. Writing her first story at the age of ten, the characters in her head still won’t stop telling their stories. If April isn’t reading or writing she can be found outside playing with a farm full of animals or taking a long walk in the woods